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Victor Maphosa, Harare Bureau
An unholy alliance pitting private bus operators contracted by the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (Zupco) and kombi crews has resulted in the subsidised buses pulling off the road daily for hours, forcing commuters to turn to kombi which charge up to $6 per trip.
Beginning of this year, Government re-introduced Zupco buses in its commitment to build a safe and reliable transport system in the country.
Since the re-introduction of Zupco buses, especially in Harare, Bulawayo and other cities, kombi operators have been forced to reduce their fares since they were losing customers to Zupco, which is charging low fares.
Cheaper conventional buses charge between 50 cents and 75 cents per trip.
The shadowy arrangement by the transport crews leave commuters exposed to smaller kombis that charge between $4 and $6 per trip.
Some unscrupulous bus operators on Zupco contract are reported to be siphoning the diesel that they get from Zupco and channel it to the parallel market where they fetch more without wear and tear.
They will remit a paltry $400 to Zupco daily.
Zupco, in terms of its contract with private bus operators, allocates each bus between 100 litres and 150 litres of diesel daily depending on the routes and the engine size of the bus.
A litre costs between $12 and $15 per litre on the black market.
In return, the buses are expected to ferry passengers throughout the day, while charging the stipulated heavily subsidised fares of up 75 cents per trip.
At the end of the day, the bus crews must meet a daily target of about $400, which they surrender to Zupco cashiers.
Monthly, the operators get a fixed payment for each bus contracted to the parastatal.
The noble arrangement was mooted to mitigate the high transport costs facing urban dwellers, but some bad apples in the transport sector are now spoiling it.
A month-long investigation by our Harare Bureau exposed the rot in the transport sector after some buses were put under surveillance.
Some would only ferry people twice in the morning and once in the evening as a cover up measure.
Our Harare Bureau tracked some of the buses after fuelling up and discovered that they would park at their garages for hours before going back to their routes.
Zupco acting divisional operations manager Mr Tito Chirawu said the parastatal had received reports of the illegal sale of diesel by drivers, as well as the deliberate delays.
Mr Chirawu said Zupco was investigating the reports to establish the truth.
“We can neither deny nor confirm the allegations that some drivers are selling their fuel allocation on the parallel market,” he said. “However, we have reports of such behaviour and we have a task team which is seriously looking into those allegations. We will leave no stone unturned.
“We are also putting up technological measures which will put to an end to all these shenanigans. Our buses will be equipped with a tracking system, among other devices.
“We plead with members of the public to report all dirty deals by our staff so that we flush out the bad apples.”
Online Reporter